Prohibition+6A

John Edgar Hoover J. Edgar Hoover was the hard working, suspected racist and homosexual, who founded the FBI. From his work in the library of Congress to his death in 1972, he shaped the FBI and was in the middle of many controversies relating to suspected illegal FBI actions. In the 20’s, the FBI was just beginning, and Hoovers actions helped make it a world class department, despite the controversies surrounding him and his work. John Edgar Hoover was born on January 1st 1895. He was the son of a printmaker, who had a mental breakdown and spent 8 years in an asylum, and died while Hoover was still young. John then worked in the Library of Congress and studied at night. In 1917 John Edgar Hoover graduated George Washington University with a law degree. His uncle, a judge, helped Hoover get his first job in the US justice department and when soon moved to the being the head of Enemy Aliens Registration Section. Two years later he was made the Attorney General’s special assistant. He was given the responsibility of heading a department that was supposed to gather evide nce on “revolutionary and ultra-revolutionary groups.” He arrested and deported many suspected communists during this time. Hoover kept careful track of all people in the US with suspected left-wing political views, and, influenced by his work in the library, and created an index of 450,000 and the 60,000 thought to be most dangerous had detailed biographical notes added as well. Hoover asked the Attorney General to arrest many of the suspected communists. On November 7th, 1919, 10,000 suspected communists and anarchists were arrested. Many of them ended up being American citizens and were freed, but it allowed Hoover to gather a list of lawyers that were willing to represent radicals in court. After this, Hoover knew he needed a big case to help his campaign against communists and anarchists. He tried to have Emma Goldman, who opposed Hoover’s views in religion, birth control, free love and the First World War. Goldman had lived in the US for 34 years, and her father and husband were Americans. Hoover argued that Goldman’s speeches inspired the killer that assassinated President McKinley, and was able to have her and 247 others deported to Russia. This was the main cause of the drop in membership of the American Communist party from 80,000 to 6000. In 1924 Hoover was appointed the director of the Bureau of Investigation. The Bureau of Investigation’s task at the time was to investigate federal crimes and assisting the police and other crime investigation agencies. Hoover spent great effort recruiting and training agents. He began a fingerprint file in 1926, which became the largest in the world. At this time, the Bureau’s agents had no real power; they could not carry guns or make arrests. In 1935 Hoover managed to get the government to create the Federal Bureau of Investigation, or FBI, who had the power to act against crimes in the United States. Hoover then created a scientific crime-detention laboratory and the FBI National Academy. After this Clyde Tolson was appointed by Hoover as the Assistant Director of the FBI. It was said that Hoover and Tolson became lovers, and the Mafia Boss Meyer Lansky was able to use photographic evidence of this against the FBI. Hoovers work continued until his death in 1972.

"J. Edgar Hoover." //u-shistory.com//. N.p., n.d. Web. 15 Mar 2011. []. "John Edgar Hoover." //Spartacus Educational//. N.p., n.d. Web. 15 Mar 2011. []  "John Edgar Hoover." //John Edgar Hoover//. Web. 15 Mar 2011. [|http://www.u-s-history.com/pages/h1593.html].

"John Edgar Hoover With Tommy Gun." Web. 15 Mar 2011. [].

St. Valentine’s Day Massacre

Seven men were shot dead on the north side of Chicago. The day was February 14, 1929; it was Saint Valentine’s Day. Al Capone, who ordered the hit, was conveniently away in Miami. Five of the seven men were part of the Morgan gang. The Morgan gang was the rival gang in Chicago to Al Capone. They were intruding on his monopoly of illegal alcohol trade in Chicago. Also there was a mechanic and a doctor they were the other two killed. Four of Al Capone henchman dressed as cops came in acting like it was a raid. They lined up the seven men up against the wall. Then 2 other henchmen walked in and produced Thompsons and shotguns from under their overcoats. They leveled and fired killing six of the seven men quickly. The last man was found crawling for the door with 14 slugs in his chest. He died several hours later in a hospital. He didn’t say anything about the massacre. 70 shots and two shotgun casings were found. No men were ever tried for the crime. Other gangsters made Al Capone make amends for the bad publicity on organized crime. Al Capone would spend a year in jail waiting for the heat to die down.

Talyor, Troy. "Blood, Roses and valentines." Blood, Roses and valentines. N.p., 2008. Web. 14 Mar 2011. . "THE ST. VALENTINE'S DAY MASSACRE ." THE ST. VALENTINE'S DAY MASSACRE. mikes machine guns, 2001. Web. 14 Mar 2011. . king, david. Al Copone and the Roaring Twenties. chicago: blackbirch press, 1999. 50-51. Print. il for the heat to die down. Al Capone." Blood, roses and valetines. Web. 15 Mar 2011. . George "Bugs" Moran." Blood, roses and valetines. Web. 15 Mar 2011. [].

Speakeasies
In 1919, the 18th amendment was ratified and the sale of alcohol was illegal. Although it was against the law, this didn’t stop people from going to illegal bars, or speakeasies, to drink alcohol. Speakeasies were usually open very late at night and people needed code words to come in. There were thought to be 100,000 speakeasies in New York City. Speakeasies owners paid the policemen off not to arrst them and raid their establishments. In New York City’s “21 Club,” a famous Speakeasy, they didn’t pay off the police, but they installed 4 alarm buttons in the vestibule alone, and there were 5 secret caches where they hid the liquor. The caches were accessible through secret doors that were short circuited whenever an alarm button was pressed. One of the most famous speakeasies of the prohibition age was the Cotton Club. The Cotton Club was on 142nd St. and Lenox Ave New York in Harlem. It was owned by a white gangster named Owney Madden. Most of the people that came to the Cotton Club were white, because blacks were excluded, but most of the waiters and performers were African American. The Cotton Club was closed down several times because of the illegal sale of alcohol, but quickly reopened every time because of its political connections. Average people became criminals transporting and selling liquor. People came up with elaborate ways to transport liquor. People used coconut shells, false books, garden hoses, and water bottles to transport liquor. One man was found carrying two boxes of eggs, the insides drained out and liquor put inside the shells.

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"Speakeasies." //www.alliance.ed.uiuc.edu//. N.p., 1998. Web. 9 Mar 2011. . "Cotton Club of Harlem (1923-)." //www.blackpast.org//. N.p., n.d. Web. 15 Mar 2011. [].

Infamous Gangsters

Lucky Luciano born in Sicily in 1897 and he came over to the U.S. when he was about ten years old. They settled in NYC, a common destination. As a teen he charged Jewish kids for protection, or he would beat them up. By age 20 he was well associated in the criminal underworld, and had already served a jail sentence. He formed a lifelong friendship with famous Jewish gangster Meyer Lansky. He was sentenced to an eleven year jail sentence but paroled on the condition he move back to Sicily. He secretly moved to Cuba, and continued to run the mafia from there. Meyer Lansky was born as Majer Suchow liński in Poland. He was an average gangster and served as Lucky’s voice when he was in jail. He operated a lot of different gambling operations stretching from New York to Florida. And he even had an operation in Cuba, running a hotel where Lucky would meet with others. Al Capone was born January 17, 1899 as Alphonsus Capone. He quit school in the sixth grade at the age of 14, and was part of two gangs as a kid. He later became part of the notorious Five points gang working as a bartender and bouncer at one of their bars. He worked for Johnny Torrio, in Chicago. He ran various shops and got in a heated argument with one customer, who took a knife and slashed him. He gained control over Torrio’s empire when Torrio was shot up by a rival gang.

"Al Capone." //History Files - Al Capone//. Chicago Historical Society, n.d. Web. 13 Mar 2011. . "Lucky Luciano." //Sieze the Night//. CarpeNoctem, 01/11/10. Web. 13 Mar 2011. . Lucky Luciano." //Salem Press//. Web. 13 Mar 2011. []. <span style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 9pt; letter-spacing: 1.5pt;">"Al Capone." //Al Capone//. Web. 13 Mar 2011. <http://www.chicagohs.org/history/capone.html>.